1. Field
The present disclosure relates to devices that form pasta. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to a configurable device to break strands of dried pasta into pieces of approximately similar length, and a method of breaking strands of dried pasta into pieces of approximately similar length.
2. Brief Discussion of Related Art
Pasta is a food made from dough of flour, water, and sometimes eggs. The dough can be formed into a variety of shapes, dried and packaged. The packaged pasta is sold through a variety of locations, such as supermarkets. Various prepared dishes include pasta that is boiled and then served as a main ingredient with a variety of meat, tomato, or other sauces. Several of the shapes of dried pasta that are used frequently include long dried strands that are round or flat (e.g., spaghetti, linguini, etc.).
The strands of dried pasta are generally uniform in length depending on the packaging or container. Sometimes, it is desirable to break these strands of pasta into smaller pieces of approximately similar length because of the food to be prepared, the size of the pot in which the food is to be prepared (e.g., pot in which pasta is boiled), and/or easier consumption of the prepared food (e.g., by seniors and/or children). While long strands of pasta are generally consumed using a fork, which requires dexterity to operate the fork and the ability to chew, smaller pieces of pasta can be consumed using a spoon, which generally requires less dexterity and less ability to chew.
It is difficult to break the one or more strands of dried pasta by hand without creating multiple fragments of various lengths and even more difficult to break the strands of dried pasta into multiple pieces of approximately similar length.
One usually holds one or more strands of pasta by their ends and bends the strands until they break. As a strand of dried pasta is bent at its ends until it can curve no longer, it will tend to break into multiple fragments of various lengths. Specifically, the sudden break in the strand causes a burst of flexural waves to travel through the broken fragments, which can cause some of these fragments to further curve and break. The broken fragments can have various lengths.
It is therefore desirable to provide a configurable device that can break strands of dried pasta into pieces of approximately similar length, improving the uniformity of the resulting pieces and mitigating fragments of dissimilar lengths.